


21 years or 3 weeks after.

by Corina (CorinaLannister)



Category: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Kissing, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorinaLannister/pseuds/Corina
Summary: Bethany Walker always replayed the memory of the game Jumanji. Especially any of the time she spent with the missing student Alex Vreeke. Within the game, although their time together was short it was fraught with danger, Bethany thinks that is why they grew as close to each other as they did. Then, when the game was over, she didn’t even get to say goodbye before he was gone. He just vanished. Leaving her and the other students who were from the same time.
Relationships: Alex Vreeke/Bethany Walker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	21 years or 3 weeks after.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anr/gifts).



Bethany Walker always replayed the memory of the game Jumanji. Especially any of the time she spent with the missing student Alex Vreeke. Within the game, although their time together was short it was fraught with danger, Bethany thinks that is why they grew as close to each other as they did. Then, when the game was over, she didn’t even get to say goodbye before he was gone. He just vanished. Leaving her and the other students who were from the same time. 

Then, when they got back to their own bodies, and when the game was over he had grown old. The feelings those were still fresh for her, but for him it had been years. During that time he had gotten married and had children. While to her, it had only been a maximum of thirty minutes since their departure. Going back to their respective timelines couldn’t have messed up their situation any more than it did. 

There were times when Bethany Walker would walk the long way home from school, slowing down as she walked by the front of his house. Just to get that one glimpse of him. Even if it was just for one moment in time. She would also stop and pretend to tie her shoes. Just to glance at those windows for a little longer to try to see him. When coming back, she couldn’t imagine what he might have looked like. He was older than her, but that didn’t matter to her. It was about the heart of the person. The strengths that they had inside them. 

Bethany thought that with being in Jumanji, surviving that trauma, that she was doing a good job at being stealthy. She was so sure that no one noticed she had been doing this on purpose. Her family had questioned how she was later home, yet she told them she was spending more time at the library. The excuse sounded lame to her, but she couldn’t change it when it had come out of her mouth. Confident in her abilities to dodge her friends and to make it seem like slowly ambling past the house was a part of her routine. Turned out, she couldn’t have been more wrong. 

\--------------------------------------------

Alex Vreeke thought about his time stuck in Jumanji many times over the course of his life. Though, he thought about it less often as time went on. He mainly thought about Bethany Walker, and about how she and her friends had saved him. Without them - without her - he would still be stuck in the game or he would have died in the game. He regretted not saying goodbye to her, or saying more to her while they were in the game. Alex didn’t know that the handshake would make him leave the game straight away otherwise he would have kissed Bethany. A farewell gift. 

When he realised he was back in his own body, in his own time. He resigned himself to the fact that his chance with Bethany had gone up in smoke. She wasn’t even born yet. Alex thought of her often during the years. He was tempted to play the game again, just to see if she would be there again. But he always nixed that idea as soon as it came to mind. Besides he had thrown that game out as soon as he was free from it.

The thought that kept him going through his life was that one day he would see her again. One day in the future, in about twenty years he would be able to meet her, thank her and then wish her the best in life. Maybe, he could fix it so that he had something in common with her, something that would keep him near her without being suspicious. Alex turned down job offers out of town, he also made a sure fire bet on one of the Super Bowls in order to buy a stables in the area. Perhaps one day she would ride there. 

However, he needn’t have done any of that. Alex realised that she was actively seeking him out. He would wait until she came around the front of the house and gaze upon her face when she walked on by. It was at almost the same time every day. Like clockwork. Sometimes he couldn’t be there, or couldn’t get to a window without making everyone else around him suspicious. 

One day, he couldn’t take any of the conflicting thoughts anymore. Why was she doing this? 

Today was the day that he would find out. 

\---------------------------------------------

Bethany looked forward to getting to Alex’s house. It was the better part of her day. Just the anticipation that she might see him was enough to make her giddy. Enough to give her a skip in her step. She always sped up when she was on the right road. 

When Alex’s house was about three houses away she heard footsteps behind her. 

“Damn,” she said under her breath. She wouldn’t be able to slow down to a meander for just one house and then speed up again. 

Instead of panicking she implemented part of her plan early. She could tie her shoelaces twice on the same road. That was perfectly normal, right? 

Except, today wasn’t a normal day. When she went to tie her shoes and heard the footsteps catch up to her she was feeling relief. 

Until, they came to a halt right behind her. 

“Why do you keep walking this way?”  


Just hearing his voice made her feel warm and fuzzy. She knew Alex’s voice, and could pick it out blindfolded. Bethany twisted around from her low position to look up at him. 

“Alex,” She breathed out in a rush, forgetting to reply to his question.

“I said. Why do you keep walking down this street?” his voice had turned a little more heated and angier than before. 

“...I...I mean...That is to say…” Bethany had no chance to say what she wanted to. Her mind all a blur, him being this close to her scrambled her brain. She hadn’t prepared what to say. There was a speech that she had been planning, but there were multiple variations of it strewn around her room. She knew her face was reddening with a blush at this point. 

“I know you walk out of your way to get here. So tell me what you want from me!” He demanded. It wasn’t a question anymore.

“I do walk out of my way, yes. There is something...” 

“Tell me. Is it a reward that you want? He said impatiently. His voice was strained. 

“A reward?” Bethany asks him questioningly. She blurted it out, not quite understanding where it was coming from. 

“Money. You want money for rescuing me from Jumanji,” He stated, like it was true. It couldn’t be further from the truth. 

“Because I’m falling for you,” Bethany all but shouted. Her voice carrying on the wind. 

An eerie silence was all that followed, save for a dog which started barking from her raised voice. Neither one of them said anything. The anger and the embarrassment fading between them. 

Bethany looked towards the pavement. The burning at the back of her throat was starting. She was about to be turned down. 

Upon receiving no reply, she started striding past him with the intent to get home before any tears fell from her eyes. Burying her face in her pillow sounded like the right sort of treatment right about now. 

Except, she is sent wheeling round and into him when Alex grasps her arm. Her momentum carried her into his chest. She can’t help but gasp when she looks up at him. His face was close to hers, and it was coming even closer to hers. Bethany looks down at his lips which are getting impossibly close to hers. Then, they touch hers. The first tear fell when she started moving her lips against his. Kissing him was what she had daydreamed about. It was perfect. All too soon he pulled away. Her lips lamented the loss of the connection between them.

“That is what I should have done 21 years ago,” he said softly into her hair. 

“No, that is what you should have done 3 weeks ago.” 

Bethany felt him lean down and his forehead hit hers. There was nothing to stop the smile on her face. Aside from everything which she didn't want to think about write now. Bethany couldn’t help feeling like everything was right. Even when it wasn’t. Their lives were on different paths. If they were to pursue this it would be a difficult road for them. Perhaps even more difficult than participating in the game Jumanji. 

“If I knew that this was how it was going to go. I would have waited for you, Bethany.”


End file.
